The SAT-7 film Perhaps God Sees Me, which tells a powerful and moving story of overcoming mental...
SAT-7 TÜRK’s first ever feature-length film, Yakamoz, which marks the 100th anniversary of the Greek-Turkish population exchange, has won the Jewel Award for best drama at the CEVMA (Christian European Visual Media Association) awards.
Collecting the award on Saturday (September 14), SAT-7 International’s George Makeen said it was an honor for the film, which premiered on June 28 this year, to receive such recognition. “These awards are given to movies that are creative and well-produced but that also have strong content and a clear Christian message,” he said. “We are proud to have been recognized as a ministry that can produce powerful content that makes an impact.”
The message of Yakamoz echoes the story of the Good Samaritan in the way it challenges prejudices around those who are considered enemies.
Ümit Teymur, acting Executive Director of SAT-7 TÜRK, said the team was “delighted” with the award and the impact the film is making: “Yakamoz is about events that happened a hundred years ago, but its contemporary themes of forced migration, discrimination, and human suffering speak to audiences today.”
“We are so pleased that this powerful story resonated with the judges and that its Christian message of accepting the other and loving the stranger has been recognized.”
The fictional story of Yakamoz takes place in a real historical context. After World War I, Greece and Türkiye became embroiled in a three-year war which culminated in “the burning of Smyrna”, a catastrophic urban fire that claimed tens of thousands of lives. As part of a peace agreement that was signed in 1923, Türkiye and Greece agreed to exchange “Turkish nationals of the Greek Orthodox religion established in Turkish territory, and Greek nationals of the Muslim religion established in Greek territory”.1 Over 1.5 million people were thus forced to move back to their ancestral nations.
The film focuses on two families – one Christian family from Türkiye and one Muslim family from Greece – who are caught up in the exchange. They are forced to live together in the same house for a time while it is taking place. From different backgrounds, religions, and cultures, the two families are initially uncomfortable and resistant, but as they start to understand and sympathize with each other, they find points of connection and become friends.
Scenes like this are rarely depicted in the Turkish media. Although some Greeks and Turks live side-by-side in peace in places such as the Turkish island Gökçeada – as explored in a recent SAT-7 TÜRK docu-series – such co-existence is uncommon.
The film’s climax represents an important piece of Türkiye’s Christian heritage: the departure of Greek Christian families from Gelveri in the Cappadocia region of central Türkiye. This was a significant moment in the region’s history, as a huge three quarters of those displaced in the exchange were Greek Orthodox Christians.
In a nation that has largely forgotten its rich Christian past and considers Christianity to be a Western import, stories like Yakamoz are important. SAT-7 TÜRK is committed to highlighting Türkiye’s Christian heritage, from major productions like Yakamoz to documentaries like Witnesses of Time that detail the nation’s astounding Christian architecture. Through SAT-7 TÜRK, viewers in Türkiye are learning more and more about God’s involvement in the shaping of their nation.
Ümit added, “We hope that the CEVMA award will also bring greater awareness of Türkiye’s rich Christian heritage and demonstrate how people who are from different backgrounds can live peaceably together.”
Sources:
In 2023, at least 82% of your gift went directly to fund programs building up women, children, and families across the Middle East. Functional expenses (all entities).
